A Democratic strategist is warning Democratic voters against complacency, arguing that the “blowout” midterm many are expecting could vanish — and the fix rests with one key demographic.

Writing at The Hill, Celinda Lake says that Republicans still have a massive war chest, Trump loyalists are still winning big, and redistricting efforts are likely to benefit the GOP.

“Democrats should be worried,” says Lake. “Although President Trump’s approval ratings have been in the doldrums and inflation is angering MAGA voters, the fragile agreement with Iran might help Trump’s numbers and revive Republicans’ chances in November.”

Lake says that Democrats should not rely on Trump administration “missteps” to take back control of Congress in November, but rather must “swell” their turnout at the ballot box.

That turnout relies on women voters — and specifically, those women she calls “skippers” and “flippers.”

Skippers are Democratic voters who did not turn out in 2024. Flippers are disaffected Republicans who could choose to vote Democratic.

“Trump has a serious problem when it comes to women’s votes,” says Lake. Citing a recent New York Times-Siena poll, she notes that nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of women disapprove of Trump’s performance. Another poll showed Democrats with a 21-point lead among women over Republicans. And 60 percent of young women disapprove of Trump as well.

There were millions of Democratic skippers, says Lake. And even convincing a small percentage of flippers to vote Democratic could “swing the outcome” of the election, as they’re not just adding one Democratic vote but reducing one Republican vote.

“My team’s analysis of 2024 exit polls showed that if less than 2 percent of Trump’s White non-college educated voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin had gone for Harris, she would have won the election,” Lake writes. “It’s likely that flipping a similarly small percentage of women would make the difference this year, even in newly-minted Republican districts.”

Other polls show “a majority of non-college-educated White Americans now disapprove of Trump’s performance.”

Lake warns that while Republicans ought to be frightened by these numbers, bad polling numbers do not automatically translate into votes for Democrats.

“We need to reach and persuade these women to turn out, especially if the Iran war actually ends and gas prices fall,” she writes. “Democrats must do the work to mobilize skippers and create flippers. If we want to lock up a victory in November, these women hold the keys.”

Image via Shutterstock

President Donald Trump, appearing not to grasp the legal effect of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion that struck down his executive order on birthright citizenship, just hours later floated a workaround.

“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”

Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney responded to the president’s message, writing, “Trump incorrectly suggests Congress can act to limit birthright citizenship without a constitutional amendment, which the majority foreclosed.”

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 6-3 majority, said, “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community.”

“The framers of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land,’” he added. “We keep that promise today.”

As The New York Times noted, Trump “wrongly asserted that ‘no long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary.'”

And as NBC News reported, a constitutional amendment would be required to change the law. That means a two-thirds majority in the House and the Senate — plus ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, noted that he was “very disappointed” with the ruling, as Alternet reported. But, contrary to Trump’s take, Johnson said that it is time to amend the Constitution over birthright citizenship, which he argued has been “grossly abused in recent years.”

Noting that Trump had attended oral arguments for the birthright citizenship case, journalist Gabe Fleisher wrote that “Trump has now responded to the birthright citizenship opinion, but does not seem to have understood its holding. Trump says that birthright citizenship could still be undone by statute, without a constitutional amendment, even though a 5-justice majority said the opposite.”

Forbes’ Mark Joyella responded to Trump’s claim, writing, “Ya gotta love how little Trump understands how this country works.”

Journalist Michael McGough asked, “Did he even consult with a lawyer before coming out with this?”

Image via Reuters 

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the former Senate Majority Leader, was hospitalized more than two weeks ago for reasons not made public. His office has not explained why or when he is expected to return to the Senate.

The 84-year-old seven-term lawmaker was hospitalized on June 14.

Local CBS affiliate WLKY reported that there are “still few details surrounding his condition or why he’s there.” The senator’s office would only offer that there were “no updates at this time.”

Last week, McConnell’s office in a statement said the senator was “still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery.”

“As of Wednesday of last week, there are no Senate votes, as the Senate is not in session to vote,” the spokesperson also said.

It remains unclear whether Senator McConnell is still hospitalized or if he has been released, and the reason for his hospitalization is still unknown to the public.

The Lexington Herald-Leader also reported that there are “few details” surrounding McConnell’s health condition, and a “spokesperson for McConnell’s office did not have any updated information regarding the Kentucky senator’s health to share as of Monday.”

McConnell has had “several health scares,” in recent years, “including freezes during public events. He also had three public falls in 2025, and he suffered a concussion in 2023 when he fell down steps in Washington D.C. In 2025, McConnell’s team said he still deals with ‘lingering effects’ from surviving polio as a child.”

The day after his hospitalization, Newsweek published a timeline of McConnell’s recent health issues, including that he “struggled to speak during a press conference on August 30, 2023, marking the second time in weeks he required assistance from staffers. The lawmaker froze for about 30 seconds at a lectern in Kentucky, but a member of his staff intervened.”

“All right, I’m sorry, y’all,” an aide told reporters. “We’re going to need a minute.”

On July 26, 2023, McConnell “froze while speaking to reporters and stared ahead for roughly 20 seconds before being escorted away by aides. He soon returned but dismissed questions that the incident had been linked to a concussion earlier in the year.”

McConnell is not running for reelection and is expected to retire at the end of his term.

Image via Shutterstock